Father's Day
by crazytomboy78
Summary: One-shot. It's Father's Day in the city, and it's gotten Tony down. A special day, and he's got no one to share it with. Luckily he's got her to cheer him up...Pepperony. P.S.-don't know why I rated it M, but it's definitely not that inappropriate.


**hey guys! while i was re-reading taking over earlier today, i realized that i made a mistake. In Growing Up, Jess and Alana are supposed to be Katy and Candy from Taking Over. Sorrrryyy! But i got this idea from ONE word! Impressive, ik. X**

He shivered with fear as he looked down at his punctured wound. He remembered how his father used to clean up his wounds when he was younger...

_"daddy, i got a boo-boo!" a little boy cried. _

_"let me see, son." the father said. The little boy balanced on his left leg while he showed his father his cut. It was bleeding rapidly._

_"That's a nasty thing. How'd you manage to get that?" The father asked.  
_

_"I tripped on my shoelace and fell on the driveway." The little boy explained._

_"Well, you'd better beware of those shoelaces, son. They're your mortal enemy!" the father joked; then he cleaned his son's knee before applying antiseptic and a band-aid. The little boy didn't shed a tear or wince at the slightest sign of pain._

_"There you go, little soldier!" the father smiled._

_"Thanks, daddy!" the boy ran back outside._

"Uhhh, Tony? Are you okay?" Rhodey asked when he walked in to see his best friend sitting, staring at his knee. Tony snapped out of his state of daydreaming and looked up.

"What? Y-yeah, I'm fine." Tony answered.

"Yeah. I'll get to that." Tony said. He stood and they walked out together.

"Are you sure you're going to be okay today?" Rhodey asked.

"Yeah. Why wouldn't I be?" Tony lied."Because today is your first father's day without your dad, that's why." Rhodey explained.

"I'll be fine, Rhodey." Tony lied. He just wanted to be alone today.

"Ok, if you insist. I have to go meet my mom at her office so we can video chat with my dad today. Want to come?" Rhodey asked.

"No, i'm going to do some stuff in the lab." Tony stopped at the lab door and let Rhodey walk out. Rhodey sighed.

"OK...then I'll be back later..." Rhodey said. He worried for his friend on a day such like today, but he could understand why he'd want to be alone.

As Tony got back to the lab table, his phone went off. He checked the caller ID. It was Pepper.

"Hello?" Tony answered his phone.

"Hey, Tony! Just checking in on you because today is father's day and all and you're kind of alone. But that's okay because you can spend the day with Rhodey and his dad or me and my dad even, if you want! Because me and my dad are going out to dinner today after we hang out at my house all day and-" Pepper babbled.

"Naw. I'm just going to work in my lab today. Thanks for your concern though." Tony said, perfectly mellow but sounding a little depressed.

"Are you sure you're okay? You don't sound it." Pepper asked.

"No, I'm fine." Tony said.

"No you're not! I can tell!" Pepper said.

"I'm fine, okay?" Tony insisted.

"Come on, Tony. You can't just shut yourself out today; it won't do you any good. Look, I'll be there soon, OK?" Pepper said.

"You're not giving me a choice, are you?" Tony said.

"No. No I'm not." Pepper said, then hung up. Tony put his pod back in his pocket and continued working on his armor. A few minutes later, Pepper walked in. She saw Tony hunched over the armor and she knew he was only working on it because it was some sort of escape for him.

"Hey, Tony!" She greeted. Tony didn't respond; he didn't bother looking up.

"You have GOT to stop working yourself so hard. You need a break, Tony. Come on, come with me!" Pepper said. Again Tony didn't move or respond.

"Tony? Woo-hoo, earth to Tony..." Pepper said. Still nothing. She walked over to him and slapped him on the arm. He looked up.

"What did you say? Sorry, i wasn't paying attention to anything." Tony asked. Pepper rolled her eyes.

"I _said_ you need to take a break and go have some fun." Pepper said.

"It depends on your definition of fun." Tony said.

"Fun as in get your butt out of this lab and do something else." Pepper said. Tony put down his wrench and unplugged his charger.

"Alright, what would you make me do?" Tony faced her while he put his shirt back on. _No, don't put your shirt back on! You're hotttt!_ Pepper thought to herself.

"I don't know, I'll find something to do!" Pepper said.

"Fine. I'll stop working." Tony said.

"Great! Now, we only have a few hours because i have to meet my dad back home for dinner, so what are things we can do in a few hours?" Pepper said to herself.

"Oh, i know!" Pepper said.

"What?" Tony asked.

"You'll see!" Pepper grabbed his arm and dragged him out of the lab.

* * *

When they stopped walking, they were at Central Park.

"What are we doing here?" Tony asked.

"Relaxing at the park!" Pepper said.

"So what you're saying is we're just going to sit here and do nothing?"Tony asked.

"No, silly! We can walk around and feed the ducks and get a lemonade or something! There's plenty of fun stuff to do here!" Pepper explained.

"Right..." Tony muttered.

"Come on, they're selling bread for the duckies!" Pepper said. She grabbed Tony's arm once again and walked to the stand with bread.

"Two slices, please!" Pepper said to the person behind the counter.

"Here you are, young lady. That's two dollars." The man behind the counter said politely. Pepper dug around the pink bag hanging on her shoulder.

"Oh, shoot. I forgot my wallet at home..." Pepper said.

"Don't worry, I've got it." Tony pulled out two dollars and handed it to the man behind the counter. Pepper took the slices of bread and broke pieces off to throw into the pond. Tony just watched her joy-filled expression and let his mind wander...

_It's fathers day, and i don't have a dad to celebrate it with..._

_it's that special day where you get to appreciate the dad you have and i can't celebrate..._

"Hey, can we go somewhere else now?" Tony asked as he looked around at all the dads and their child or children together in the park. Pepper noticed his pained expression.

"O-oh, i get it...okay. Let's go." Pepper threw the last piece of bread into the pond and walked away. Tony followed, starting to sulk.

"Oh, you're not sulking on my watch mister! Come on, Tony! Just be happy. You have stuff to be happy about, right?" Pepper said.

"I know, but today is the one day devoted to celebrating the father figure in your life and I'm spending it alone." Tony said.

"Tony, that's not all father's day is about. It's about celebrating _all _the 'father figures' in the country, in the world! There are A LOT of other families that don't have a father in their lives, today, Tony. Don't be bummed because you're one of those people." Pepper said. Tony smiled.

"I guess you're right...i shouldn't just lay around and wallow in my own despair. I should be happy that I'd ever even had a dad to look up to. Thanks." Tony said, smiling. Pepper poked his cheek lightly.

"That's the attitude!" Pepper smiled. They stopped at the playground and walked over to the swings.

"Why are we doing this again?" Tony asked.

"Because its fun. It sends me back to when i was little and things were simpler..._like when i didn't have to deal with crushes..._" Pepper muttered the last part to herself.

"Sorry, what was that?" Tony asked.

"Oh, n-nothing." Pepper said, looking at her shoes to hide her blush.

"Actually, it sounded like you said you have a crush on someone. Who?" Tony asked, blindly.

"N-No one! You don't...well, kinda...maybe a little, sort of...know him?" Pepper studdered.

"What's his name?" Tony asked.

"No, no, names aren't important..." Pepper tried. Her attempt failed.

"Come on, Pepper. You know you can tell me. Who is it?" Tony asked. Before answering, Pepper became clever and got an idea.

"Oh, it's a fellow both you and me know very, very well." Pepper smiled. Tony raised an eyebrow.

"Someone...brave and strong, and kind and responsible." Pepper went on.

"Someone with brown hair, and fairly tan skin..." Pepper continued. Tony thought for a moment.

"Eww, Happy?" He asked. Pepper shook her head in disgust.

"He's got a great personality. He's loving, caring, smart, good looking," Pepper smiled; although she was aggravated that he didn't get it yet.

"He's gentle with his friends, but hard on his enemies; oh, he's got plenty of enemies. He's arrogant at times, independent..." Then it clicked.

"OOOOOH. I get it..." Tony smiled. "You like Rhodey!" Tony said. Pepper slapped her hand to her face and shook her head.

"No. Still not it. You're getting warmer, though." Pepper said.

"More hints?" Tony asked.

"NO. You've gotten enough." Pepper said. Tony thought hard. Good looking, smart, independent, kind, caring, responsible...brown hair, tan skin...brave, gentle...very familiar with him...who could it be? Tony asked himself.

"The only other person who fits that description would be me..." Tony said.

"Bingo, genius! You got it!" Pepper smiled.

"Wait...i did?" Tony asked.

"Yes. You did. You won the grand prize." Pepper smiled.

"And what would that be?" Tony asked.

"An all-access pass to..." Pepper began.

"To what?" Tony asked.

"My..." Pepper went on.

"Yeah?" Tony said impatiently.

"Heart." Pepper finished. Tony smiled to himself.

"Well then, i think i'll just have to take you up on that." Tony smiled.

"Good. Because they're non-refundable." Pepper said, poking him in the chest. Tony laughed.

"I wouldn't return that for the world." Tony said. He moved his swing closer to hers and closed the thin amount of space between them.

**that's all i have on the topic! turns out it's just a one shot...that's all i really anticipated it to be anyways. review!**


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